Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a film integrated circuit (IC) having at least one row of connection terminals for connection with metallized holes of a printed circuit board (PCB), the connection terminals have a pocket-like clamping contour on one side being connected to pads of the film IC and a striplike, comparatively narrower connection piece adjoining a widened portion on the other side for connection to the printed circuit board, and at least one of the connection pieces is bent in a V forming a spring with one free arm and one arm connected to the widened portion, for plug contacting in the holes of the printed circuit board, with a bending radius being markedly smaller than the diameter of the corresponding PCB hole.
One such film IC is known from European Patent 0 148 461 B1, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference into the present patent application.
Film ICs of single-in-line or dual-in-line construction have leads with a cross section which is smaller by a factor of 10 than the circular area of the mounting holes in PCBs or similar circuit carriers. The known connection terminals which are bent in a V resiliently span that difference in cross section, thus providing a certain aid in stability. Problems arise, however, since the known stability aid has a rounded bending region, or in other words a rounded connection end. The result, as intended, is a connection end with an advantageously small introduction cross section for the PCB holes. However, the capability of introducing it into very small holes with a diameter of less than 1.0 mm is no longer ideally present. Above all, however, inserting the known aid to stability into such small holes undesirably requires strong insertion forces because of their construction, so that until now it was not recommended that the aid to stability be used.
Another problem arises when there are fewer pins (connection terminals bent in a V) than 5, since the plugged-in circuits can then be pushed out while being transported. The attempt has been made to increase the retention force by widening the opening of the V, but without complete success.